What would the new identity theft law accomplish?
While a law designed to make it easier to criminally prosecute and impose harsher punishments on identity theft criminals would certainly help matters, it isn’t entirely clear how big the impact might be. Some experts are, at best, lukewarm on the idea, claiming that the noticeable drop in identity theft cases in recent years makes the law unnecessary. But those in favor of the legislation claim that it would eliminate a current prosecution requirement that says that sensitive information must be stolen from a computer through interstate or foreign communications. Under the new law, an identity theft criminal can be prosecuted if they hack a computer within the same state.2 This seems particularly significant because many identity theft experts say that, in a large percentage of identity theft cases, the victim knows the perpetrator personally — with friends, co-workers and even family members topping the list of would-be offenders. The proposed new identity theft law would also make i
